Collection and delivery mail-box.



COLLECTION A ND EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE A xi ' lowing to be a full, clear,and exact descrip- JAMES P. BROWN, OF HILLSBORO, ILLNOIS.

`COLLECTION ND DELIVERY MAIL-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 670,553, dated March26, 1901.

Application iiled January l0, 1901 To LZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMES P. BROWN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hillsboro, in the county of Montgomery and State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCollection and Delivery Mail-Boxes; and I do declare the foltion of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled inthe art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to mail-boxes designed for. use more particularlyon rural mail-routes, and has for its object the production of animproved mail colleotion'and delivery box possessing advantages in pointof simplicity and durability of construction, added to which the box isweatherproof, is readily opened and closed, and is equipped withsignaling devices to indicate whether the box contains'mail forcollection or delivery.

Other advantages appear ,iu the following detailed description of myimproved box, in connection with which description attention is calledto the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective viewof a mailbox embodying my invention, the box being closed and displayingthe carriers signal to indicate mail to be collected. Fig. 2 is asimilar view showing the box opened. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinalsectional view of the box. Fig. 4 is a section on line i 4 ofv Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings by letter, A denotes the bottom of the box,having at its sides depending iianges a, to which are riveted orotherwise secured the box sides B B, and C designates the top', which isof pitch form 4and which is preferably integral with the sides. The top,bottom, and sides are lap-jointed to the rear wall D, rendering the boxabsolutely weatherproof.

The upper portion of the front of the box is closed by a wall E, havingside and upper lianges e engaged by folds b onthe sides and top B C, andrivets are employed to securely fasten the parts together. The wall E isset back from the front edges ofthe sides and Serial No.'42,770. (Nomodel.)

top, and the front edge of the bottoni terminates in substantiallythe'vertical plane of said wall. The wall E has at its lower side anoutwardly-projecting ange e', provided centrally with a hole e2. Y

F denotes the door, which in its closed position fills the opening inthe front of the box. The door is recessed, being provided with sideflanges ff, and a pintle-rod g is passed through the lower ends of saidiianges and the sides to enable the door to be vertically swung. belowthe bottom, and in the lowered position of the door said end engages thebottom and supports the door in substantially a horizontal'position. Theside flanges of the door are upturned, as atf, and in the raisedposition of theY door the upturned edges engage the edges ofthe sidesand act as shoulders to limit the inward movement of the door and alsoto render the box weatherproof 'around the door. At the upper end of thedoor is an outwardly-extending flange f2, having a hole f3, which whenthe door is raised registers with the hole e2 in the langee. h is apadlock, the shackle of which is passed through the holes 62,73 to lockthe door. rlhe outer edge of the door-{iange f2 is downwardly turned, asatf4, to give stiifness and also to provide a finger-hold to facilitatethe opening of the door.

I denotes what I term the carrier-s signal. Itconsists of an arm pivotedby arivet t to the inner side oi the door, and at one end the arm isbent inwardly, as at 71, to be readily moved and to frictionally holdthe arm in its positions, whileits other end is of sufficient length toextend when the arm is moved to display position well below the loweredge of the door to be readily seen by the carrier The lower end of thedoor extends from the road. The carriers signal is moved into displayposition by the person depositing the mail for collection, and this canbe accomplished only when the door is in open position.

The patrons signal (shown at J) consists of anarm pivoted at its lowerend by a rivet j to the side of the box, preferably at its'upper frontcorner. When mail is deposited by the carrier for delivery, he raisesthe arm J to vertical position, where it is held by a clip 3'2 on thebox side, and in such position the IOO arm extends above the boxsufficiently to be plainly seen from a reasonable distance. Bothsignal-arms are folded at their edges to give stitness.

The box is preferably constructed throughout of non-oxidizable sheetmetal and is devoid of curves and therefore readily constructed withordina-ry tools. The top and sides of the box are formed from a singlesheet of metal, and all other parts are constructed equally simple, thusenabling the box to be built at a low cost. The Hanging of the parts ofthe box secures stiffness, and the use of lap-joints and rivets, as wellas the other provisions hereinbefore specified, renders the boxperfectly weatherproof. The door is hinged to swing downwardly and isheld when lowered in line with the bottom of the box, therebyfacilitating the insertion and withdrawal of the inail-matter. Theprovision of the holes in the door and front wall flanges to receive`the padlock-shackle adds further to the simplicity, effectiveness, andsecurity of the construction and dispenses with the use of separatetongues, staples, or their equivalent for the purpose.

It will be understood that in practice the box is secured to a post orother upright at the proper height to be accessible to a person standingon the ground or seated in a vehicle.

I claim as my invention 1. A mail-boX havinga recessed front wall abovethe box-opening said wall having at its lower side anoutwardly-projecting flange provided with a hole to receive the shackleof a padlock, and a door hinged to swing vertically and extended at itslower end below the bottom of the box whereby it is supported in itslowered position by said bottom, said door also having at its upper endan outwardlyprojecting i'lange provided with a depending portion andwith a shackle-hole registering with the hole in the front-Wall flangewhen the door is in closing position.

2. A mail-box having a recessed bottom and a recessed front wall abovethe box-opening having an outwardly-projecting fiange, and a door hingedabove its lower end to swing vertically and provided atits upper endwith an outwardly-extending iiange having a depending portion and withside fianges having upturned edges adapted when the door is closed toshoulder against the edges of the sides of the box-body.

3. A inail-box having a peaked top and a recessed front wall above thebox-opening said wall having at its lower side an outwardlyprojectingflange, and a door hinged to swing downwardly and extended at its lowerend below the bottom of the box whereby it is supported in its loweredposition by said bottom, said door also having at its upper end anoutwardly-projecting iiange provided with a downturned portion andhaving side 'flanges upturned at their edges to embrace the edges of thesides of the box-body when the door is raised.

4. In combination with the body ot'a inailbox, a swinging door therefor,and a signalarm pivoted to the inner side of the door and adapted to beswung to bring one end below the door into display position the otherend of the arm being inturned to frictionally hold the arm in itspositions.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES P. BROWN.

Witnesses:

THOMAS C. WHITE, THOMAS P. MARTIN.

